Thin Provisioning is another excellent addition to the FreeNAS™ features list. Thin Provisioning allows the administrator to allocate users more space than physically exists in the system. When paired with ZFS, it becomes easy to manage your total data pool size, and quickly and effectively grow to meet your users needs as they use more of their allotted space.

Remote Replication allows you to copy a snapshot to an offsite server, for maximum data security.

FreeNAS™ 8 is based on FreeBSD 8.x, and will update and keep current with the FreeBSD project. So if you're a savvy user, and prefer to use the command line, no problem! ssh in, and control your FreeNAS™ device from the FreeNAS™ custom CLI.

FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD 8.2 and features much of the same driver support. This gives anyone building their own FreeNAS device or re-purposing old hardware a wide selection of hardware choices.

If your data is somehow lost, FreeNAS™ makes it easy to restore from a previously generated snapshot. With the periodic snapshots feature, you can worry less about data loss, and use your system stress free.

One of FreeNAS™ 8's most important features is full support for the ZFS filesystem. ZFS includes data integrity protection, practically unlimited size caps, cloneable snapshots, automatic repair, RAID-Z, and more. ZFS is fully open-source, and is a great way to store and manage your important files.

FreeNAS™ 8 features a ground up redesign of the web user interface. No mess, no fuss – your server is easily controlled from any web-enabled device. Configuration is straightforward and simple, and you can make your changes on the fly.

FreeNAS™ supports many popular networking protocols, and is easy to set up in most home and enterprise environments. You'll be up and running in no time, and your users can connect with the protocol of your choice, no matter what operating system they run.